The morning sun shone on the surface of the Pacific Ocean, making it sparkle.
"Boom!!"
A piercing sound cut through the air, growing louder as it approached, shattering the tranquility of the sea.
Immediately afterwards, a tall and slender figure descended from the sky and landed steadily in front of the luxurious villa on the edge of the cliff.
Luca landed gracefully, then swaggered through the gate.
He didn't go to work today.
Clocking in for work is never in the Playboy's style.
He had a deep conversation with Gwen Stacy last night, and he's in a great mood now. He plans to go to the company again this afternoon if he has some free time.
As for Jessica?
Let her just sit there and watch helplessly in the office.
As everyone knows, Stark Industries ' most valuable asset has never been the weapons produced on the assembly line, but rather the brains of the two brothers.
As long as the two of them don't show up, Hydra could turn Stark Tower's restrooms upside down and still not steal anything useful.
"Welcome home, Mr. Luca."
JARVIS's gentle voice echoed in the living room.
"Sir, wasn't the Los Angeles night view pretty good last night?"
"Excellent, JARVIS. The field trips, especially in the field of biology, were incredibly beneficial."
Luca walked to the bar, poured himself a glass of ice water, and drank it all in one gulp.
"Where's Tony? Is he playing groundhog in the garage again?"
"Yes, sir. Mr. Tony has been in the lab all night and has refused any advice about sleep."
Luca frowned slightly.
He put down his water glass and walked straight to the underground parking garage.
As soon as the door opened, deafening rock music instantly filled Luca's ears.
Tony, wearing a vest and holding a wrench, stared blankly at a bunch of structural diagrams on the holographic projection.
He had dark circles under his eyes, a full beard, and looked extremely haggard.
Seeing Tony's appearance, Luca felt a pang of worry.
The palladium poisoning was progressing much faster than he had imagined.
But on the surface, he still acted nonchalantly, walking over and turning off the stereo.
"My God, Tony. You look like you've been gang-raped by ten Russia men. If the media catches this, Stark Industries ' stock will plummet tomorrow."
Tony was startled by the sudden disappearance of the music and glared at Luca with annoyance.
"Fuck, and you look like you just crawled out of some blonde college girl's bed. Oh wait, you really are."
Tony put down the wrench and rubbed his sore neck.
"Speak up, why aren't you catching up on sleep this early in the morning? What are you doing here? Don't tell me you're here to inspect the work."
"Of course not."
Luca moved over to a chair, crossed his legs, and settled into a comfortable position.
"I just suddenly had a brilliant business plan. Tony, let's move the company headquarters to New York."
Tony paused, as if he had heard something unbelievable.
"Move the company to New York? Have you lost your mind? We're perfectly fine in Los Angeles, why would we go through all the trouble of moving to the East Coast? Do you know how much money and effort that will cost?"
"Because New York has a better future," Luca said, spouting nonsense with a straight face.
"Furthermore, I believe that New York Police Department Commissioner George Daisy is a very righteous and highly cooperative officer. We can completely entrust him with the security work for our new building in New York."
Tony paused for a moment, then squinted and scrutinized Luca closely.
Then, a mocking smile appeared on his lips.
"George Daisy? Let me guess, all this trouble, even moving the company headquarters, is for that Spider-Woman, right?"
Luca shrugged, showing no embarrassment at being exposed.
"You know, I've always been a kind-hearted person."
In fact, the brothers had already had JARVIS hack into the entire U. S. surveillance system on the night the Los Angeles battle ended.
They then thoroughly investigated the backgrounds of Peter Parker, who was wearing a robber's mask, and the stunning Gwen Stacy Daisy.
In JARVIS's presence, the two novices' pretense was as utterly insignificant as an old woman's skirt.
Luca didn't waste any more words and quickly recounted to Tony how Gwen Stacy had been threatened by Hydra.
After listening to Luca's story, Tony's brows furrowed deeply.
" Hydra has really overreached."
Tony understood what Luca meant.
They cannot yet wage a full-scale war against Hydra.
The truth behind the parents' assassination has not been fully uncovered, and the role of S.H.I.E.L.D.. remains unclear.
Therefore, moving the company headquarters to New York and bringing George Stacy under Stark Industries' protection under the guise of business cooperation is currently the safest and most effective way to annoy the enemy.
"I agree to the proposal." Tony nodded.
"Perfect timing. I also want to build a Stark Tower in New York that's even taller than the Empire State Building. JARVIS, pull up the current power distribution map of New York."
"Yes, sir."
The holographic projection switched instantly, and a 3D map of the entire New York City appeared in front of the two.
The map is marked with densely packed colored blocks, representing different spheres of influence.
"Besides the surface-level political and business landscape, New York's underworld is also very active," JARVIS quickly explained.
"Especially Hell's Kitchen in Manhattan. The crime rate there has been consistently high for years."
"It's worth mentioning that the concept of superheroes wasn't first used by these two gentlemen. Many years ago, several masked vigilantes were already fighting crime in Hell's Kitchen."
"For example, Miss Stacy Gwen Stacy, before coming to Los Angeles as an exchange student, she was a frequent visitor to Hell's Kitchen."
"Furthermore, according to the latest surveillance footage, after returning to New York a couple of days ago, Peter Parker not only made himself a red and blue bodysuit, but also began cracking down on robberies in Queens."
Tony glanced at the image on the projector and couldn't help but purse his lips.
"A red and blue bodysuit? This kid's taste is a disaster. Doesn't he know what concealment is? Flying in the sky dressed like that, wouldn't he be a sitting duck?"
"Don't expect too much from him, Tony. He's just a poor student; he can't afford your multi-million dollar-per-pound titanium alloys," Luca said with a smile, waving his hand dismissively.
The two chatted for a bit about the street hero ecosystem in New York, and the atmosphere became slightly more relaxed.
Luca then steered the conversation back to the most important matter.
"How's your study of Dad's notes going?"
Upon hearing this question, the ease on Tony's face vanished instantly.
He sighed and irritably ran his fingers through his already messy hair.
"It's the same old story. You and I have both derived the theoretical direction of the New Element, but the problem is, neither of us has ever seen what it actually looks like!"
"Without physical references or a specific arrangement, synthesizing something based solely on theory is like trying to figure out how many holes are in a bed while blindfolded."